A Chrysler nine speed transmission is being built in a new plant in Indiana. After seven years and a couple false starts, Chrysler finally dedicated its new plant, located in Tipton, last week. The 782,000-square-foot facility is something the citizens of Tipton have impatiently waiting for.

The plant initially will be the workplace of 204 employees, many of whom were transferred there from four other plants in the nearby Kokomo area. The plant will be responsible for building the new nine speed transmission that will be shipped to several other locations for use in Chrysler vehicles. They will be found in the Jeep Cherokee; the new Chrysler 200; and various Fiat products in Italy, Turkey, China and Brazil.

Chrysler Nine Speed Transmission Plant Facts

When the plant reaches its full capacity, it will employ approximately 850 people; it plans to have about 600 in place before the end of this year. The Chrysler nine speed transmission is expected to help save fuel in Fiat Chrysler passenger cars, trucks and SUVs.

About the two false starts we mentioned earlier? A deal between Chrysler and Getrag, a German auto parts manufacturer, fell apart at the eleventh hour with Cerberus Capital (the company that owned Chrysler at the time) – a deal ending that would have employed well over 1,000 employees and had the two companies share construction costs. Both companies ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2009.

Not long after that Abound Solar, a solar parts company readied itself to take control of the plant, but it also filed for bankruptcy and ultimately went belly-up. The half-completed plant sat empty until $162 was earmarked to finish construction and open the Chrysler nine speed transmission plant for business.

So … with all that put in perspective, it’s no wonder that the citizens of Tipton were skeptical until they finally saw the plant open up!